While Aleister Black and Ricochet refuse to leave your TV, a Samoan Submission Machine left SmackDown with some well-earned American Gold.
SmackDown Thoughts (3/5/19)
- A RIP King Kong Bundy graphic is shown at the beginning of the show. You know how jaded of a wrestling fan I am? I can't stop thinking, thanks to Something to Wrestle and Bruce Prichard, that Big Cat Ernie Ladd is in heaven waiting for Bundy saying "You're stealing money from the man, Bundy. You're robbing the place."
- Daniel Bryan comes out and cuts a promo talking about staying silent while Kofi was replaced with Kevin Owens. It's now everyone's turn to shut up while he talks. Daniel Bryan says Vince was right to replace Kofi. But he shouldn't be replacing someone who throws copious amounts of pancakes with someone who eats copious amounts of pancakes. Kevin Owens is like everyone in the audience: a nobody. But that's what makes him dangerous. Bryan once again declares himself "The Planet's Champion."
Here comes Kevin Owens. He talks about being on the shelf for five months and being with his family watching the show. Everything Daniel Bryan has done in those 5 months have been awful. When Daniel Bryan threw the WWE Championship away, it was the last straw for Kevin Owens. If anyone is going to shut his mouth, it will be Kevin Owens. Owens talks about not having a reality TV show and a 7' tall backup. Owens doesn't need anyone to beat Daniel Bryan and take the WWE Championship from him. Rowan gets in Owens' way from getting to Bryan. Rowan and Bryan team up and beat down on Owens.
(An ok promo here. The program is too rushed. I don't see how this match ends any way other than a DQ or some other lousy finish. It seems too early for either Owens or Bryan to lose. Kevin Owens seemed to be channeling Chris Jericho a little bit in his promo. I'm not feeling this match at all as I am just waiting for Kofi to get his opportunity.)
- Jey Uso takes on The Miz in our first match of the night. The Usos cut a promo about "The Best Tag Team In The World" and mock both Miz and Shane. Jimmy Uso mocks Shane for wanting to jump off everything. Welcome to the Uso Penitentiary. (After what The Usos have done in their post-show activities, maybe they need to stop referencing jails and prisons. Just saying... Maybe put that line on the down low for a few months.) McMiz come out. Shane tells The Usos that they are going to win their Tag Team Championships back Sunday. Miz promises to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships Sunday. The Usos get dumped to the floor after they go to attack McMiz.
Jey Uso vs. The Miz starts during the commercial break. Miz gets the advantage on Jey early on, taking the action in the ring and onto the floor. Enziguri by Uso as soon as the commercial break ends. Uso goes on the attack with knees and kicks to Miz. Miz does running knees into the corner on Uso followed by a DDT in the ring. 2 count. Samoan Drop by Uso. Thanks to a distraction by a fight between Shane and the other Uso fighting, Miz catches Jey with a Skull Crushing Finale. 1-2-3.
(This did nothing to increase my desire to watch this match. I know this will lead to the Miz vs. Shane program at WrestleMania. But that doesn't make me want to see the match any more than I did when this show started this evening.)
- Charlotte is interviewed in the backstage area. Charlotte gloats over the beating that Becky suffered on Monday. She wants to just have a "friendly discussion." (Right...)
- R-Truth's Open Challenge for the United States Championship is next. R-Truth continues the John Cena tribute promo. (You Can't See Me, Never Give Up, movies with John Cena...) Open Challenge starts now.
It's Lacey Evans. And she walks that aisle and walks all the way back. She's becoming like Sable for God's sakes. R-Truth tells Lacey Evans to "come back Ms. Sexy..." AND IT'S SAMOA JOE!
And here comes Rey Mysterio again. And here comes Andrade... again. It's a Fatal 4 Way Match?! R-Truth never accepted the match, and he lets the referee hear his concerns.
(If Truth survives this, he, Carmella, and Little Jimmy need to go get ice cream after this.)
We return from break to see Samoa Joe dominate his opponents early on (and he'll still lose). Joe and Andrade trade chops. Back in the ring, Andrade gets the advantage until Joe dumps him to the floor. Suicide Dive by Joe on Andrade. (Joe seems to be bleeding from the corner of the eye.) Joe continues to dominate all of opponents until R-Truth attacks him from behind on the floor.
We return from break to see Andrade hit Three Amigos to Rey. Cluster breaks out with all four men getting involved in moves. Rey and Truth start going at it, and Truth starts getting offense in on all 4 men. All four men start getting moves in with Andrade catching Rey with a powerbomb after a Springboard. Double moonsault by Andrade. Truth starts kicking Joe. Spinning forearm to Rey by Truth followed by a Spinebuster to Joe. Rey gets sent on top of Joe. "YOU CAN'T SEE ME!" 5-Knuckle Shuffle to Joe. 619 to Joe and Truth. Truth almost rolls up Rey for the win again, but Rey gets out. Truth gets kicked to the floor by Andrade, and Rey hits the sliding splash on the floor onto Truth. Andrade hits a Powerbomb on the floor on Rey, which looked to land Rey right on the back of his neck. Zelina hits a hurricanrana on Truth, but Carmella knocks her down for her trouble. Canadian Destroyer by Rey to Andrade. 6-1-9 to Andrade. Splash off the corner by Rey. JOE RUNS IN AND SENTON SPLASHES REY AND ANDRADE! Andrade gets hit with a modified Rock Bottom by Joe! 1-2-3!!!
WHAT?! SAMOA JOE HAS WON THE US CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! FINALLY, JOE HAS WON A TITLE ON THE MAIN ROSTER!!!! The crowd chants "JOE, JOE, JOE" as Joe holds up his newly won title.
(I'm definitely shocked by that outcome for a good reason. Finally, Joe has finally followed through on a championship challenge and has won a title after 2 years of saying he's going to win championships and failing to follow through. That was another great match, but let's be honest: Andrade and Rey just are on fire right now with their matches. They can do no wrong. Truth and Joe brought a lot to this match as well, and the result was a very good Fatal 4 Way. For the record, I could go for Round 2 of this at Fastlane if WWE decided to book a rematch.)
- The New Day cut a promo from Mumbai, stating that they are going to be at Fastlane.
- Samoa Joe is interviewed backstage. Joe counts his past failures as "unanswered prayers." Samoa Joe promises "disrespect" for anyone who wants to come after his crown. Anyone who dares step his way will go "night, night."
- Aleister Black and Ricochet face The Bar next. The Bar calls Black and Ricochet NXT's "shiny new toys." The Bar tell them they just don't measure up. Ricochet and Sheamus start off. Ricochet uses his aerial moves to take the advantage on Sheamus for a few moments. Sheamus kicks Ricochet to the floor after a distraction from Cesaro. The Bar beat up on Ricochet during the commercial break. Ricochet gets away from The Bar and tags in Aleister Black. Black kicks and strikes at Sheamus with several moves, including the Asai Moonsault. Backbreaker by Sheamus followed by a knee by Cesaro gets a 2. Black Mass to Cesaro. Sheamus is dumped on the floor. Aleister dives out on Sheamus, while tagging Ricochet. Ricochet hits the top rope finisher. 1-2-3!
After the match, Nakamura and Rusev beat down on Black and Ricochet. The Hardys come out, dressed in classic Hardy Boys gear. The Bar and Nakamura and Rusev are disposed off. The Bar suffer dives by Jeff Hardy and Ricochet.
(Aleister Black and Ricochet are in danger of being overexposed on WWE TV at this point. They are on every show for this company, and the novelty of them being on the main roster is already starting to wear thin. Don't get me wrong. This was still a good match, but I'm afraid that their run is going to suffer should this frequency of matches continue. They need to be on one show or the other every week until they are put on a brand to stay. Then, you can feature them on that brand every week. It'd help if Ciampa and Gargano were still on TV, or if the other NXT call-ups weren't treated like complete jokes in the first place.)
- Mandy Rose takes on Naomi in the next match. Mandy is scheduled to wrestle Asuka Sunday, but with Asuka's health scare at the live event Monday, you have to wonder if that match will happen. Mandy Rose and Naomi only go about 45 seconds as Sonya distracts Naomi, allowing Mandy to hit her finisher. After the match, Asuka attacks both women on the entrance area, ramming them into the LED boards. Naomi smiles from the ring.
(Women's Revolution. 45 second matches. Just saying... It's stuff like this that started the revolution in the first place. I hope this was just a one-time situation. SmackDown needs longer women's matches. This is how messed up WWE is: SmackDown has the best work among the brands. Yet, it underuses its talent and is only 2 hours. Raw is too long at 3 hours and overexposes its talent. Go figure.)
- AJ Styles is interviewed backstage about the WWE Championship match between Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan. AJ calls what happened with Kofi a "mistake" and that Kofi was "robbed." The fans are literally screaming for Kofi. Randy Orton interrupts. He asks why AJ is talking about anyone other than himself getting a title opportunity. "No wonder it took 15 years for you to get here."
- Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade is announced for the Kickoff Show for Fastlane. (WHAT?! That's not a Kickoff match at all. I expect and hope that this position changes by Sunday.)
- Kevin Owens vs. Rowan is next. Rowan dominates early sending Owens rolling to the floor. Daniel Bryan calls Owens a lazy coward. Owens attacks Bryan on commentary, but Rowan attacks Owens from behind. Running Crossbody by Rowan to Owens on the floor. Bryan starts attacking Owens on the floor. Owens is holding his knee on the floor as Rowan and Bryan continue to beat up Owens. Mustafa Ali's music starts playing. Ali goes after Bryan in the ring and dives out on Rowan on the floor. Rowan catches him, but he gets sent into the ring post for his trouble. Running Knee by Bryan to Ali. KO hits the Stunner on Bryan in the ring.
(Great to see Mustafa Ali back. Here's a guy who had the great misfortune of being replaced in the Chamber by Kofi, thus starting Kofi's momentum in the last few weeks. Now, Ali has to basically work to get that momentum going for himself again. Again, Owens vs. Bryan is doing nothing for me for Sunday storyline wise. Hopefully, they can put on a good match on Fastlane, but I have my doubts that it ends in any clean way.)
- Charlotte and Becky Lynch finish SmackDown this week. We get a recap from last night's Rousey heel turn and beatdown of Becky Lynch. Charlotte does her mocking cheering for Becky to get her to come out. The Man comes out with the crutch hobbling to the ring. Charlotte mocks the hobbling in the ring as Becky rolls into the ring. Becky gets the mic. Becky says she's hurting. But it's ok. That's the price she'll pay to stay inside Charlotte's and "Ronnie's" head. "Ronnie" hit her with her absolute best, but Becky is still standing and ready to fight again. She's beaten Charlotte for months now and on one good leg. Yes, her body is damaged and bruised. But damaged people are the most dangerous because they have nothing left ot loose. Charlotte attacks Becky and kicks her down. She goes after the leg of Becky. She smacks Becky around with the crutch. Becky gets the Disarm-her on Charlotte and promises to break the arm off. Referees help pull Becky off Charlotte, and Charlotte rolls to the floor.
(While nothing really emerged from this segment that changed the narrative in any significant way, I did enjoy this exchange between Becky and Charlotte going into Fastlane. This was something you would have expected from The Attitude Era WWF where you tease the match without giving too much away. Good setup for Sunday, though nothing really groundbreaking happened.)
Overall, this was a much more enjoyable show than Raw. The first 30 minutes of the show were "meh" for me personally. Bryan and Owens both worked well in a throwaway promo. And McMiz vs. The Usos just does nothing for me. But the Fatal Four Way U.S. Championship match just raised this show to a whole other level. The final hour of SmackDown had some good moments in it after that, including the Becky Lynch/Charlotte finale. The Fatal 4 Way Match was worth the time to watch this show alone.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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